College Bubble: Universities Can’t Fill Freshman Classes

The Washington Post has a story out about what it calls a “troubling U.S. trend.” Universities are having trouble recruiting enough students to fill their freshman classes–a problem with huge financial implications for many schools, which rely on students’ tuition dollars to fund their bloated budgets.
The article tells of admissions officers at St. Mary’s College of Maryland branching out across the country in a desperate attempt to recruit more students. Professors are having lunches with potential applicants, hoping to persuade them to enroll. Why such urgency? If colleges can’t achieve full enrollment, they’ll soon have to start cutting costs. (GASP!)